Slab-embedded precision height-and-tilt-adjustable plinth anchoring for a column base

ABSTRACT

Precision-adjustable, plinth structure for anchoring the base of a building-frame column to a poured concrete slab including (a) a first load-reaction structure embeddable in a pre-cured (i.e., wet, and not yet fully cured) pour of concrete which will cure/harden to form such a slab, (b) a second load-reaction structure disposed above the first load-reaction structure, anchorable to the base of a column, and including at least one depending retention element which extends downwardly toward the first load-reaction structure so as to be embeddable in the same still-wet concrete pour, and (c) adjustable, differential, load-reaction-interaction structure load-transmissively and operatively interposed the first and second load-reaction structures, and offering plural, laterally spaced adjusters which are manipulable from above selectively to shift the two load-reaction structures relative to one another in both elevational and tilting senses. The methodology of the invention includes (a) placing a precision, position-adjustable plinth in an intended slab zone, (b) pouring concrete into that zone so as effectively to engage the placed plinth, (c) adjusting, as desired, the position of the plinth in three-dimensional space before full curing of the poured concrete, and (d) locking the adjusted position of the plinth through curing of the poured concrete.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to currently pending, prior-filed, U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/605,728, filed Aug. 30, 2004for “Slab-Embedded Base Plate Anchor for Column Base”. All of thedisclosure contents of that prior-filed application are herebyincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to plinth structure, and to associatedmethodology for anchoring the base of an upright, structural,building-frame column to a poured concrete slab, such as a podium slab.More particularly, it concerns the structure and methodology of suchplinth structure which is configured to be manipulable in bothelevational (raising and lowering) and a tilting senses so as to enableprecise positioning and orienting of a column, from the base up, in abuilding frame.

A preferred and best mode embodiment of, and manner of practicing, theinvention are illustrated and described herein in the setting of afull-moment structural building frame of the type described in U.S. Pat.No. 6,837,016. While this issued-patent context for description hereinhas been chosen as useful setting for disclosing the present invention,it should be understood that the structure of the invention is usable todeal with upright columns in other types of structural building frames.

Precision positioning, in lateral, vertical and tilt senses, of anupright, elongate, building-frame column is an important considerationin construction of a plural-story building. Especially, such positioningis central to enabling the assembly of a building frame wherein thevarious components in the frame have themselves been pre-assemblyprepared, for example in an off-construction-site setting, to haveprecision small-tolerance configurations conceived and implemented topromote speed, accuracy and simplicity of subsequent on-site assembly.Preferably, such positioning can be made quickly and easily, and throughstructure and practices which are relatively simple and inexpensive innature, and performable in a reliable, intuitive, and relativelylow-skill-level manner.

As will be learned from the description which follows below, thestructure and method of this invention take into account all of theseconsiderations in a very practical and satisfactory manner.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the proposedplinth structure includes (a) a first load-reaction structure embeddablein a pre-cured (i.e., wet, and not yet fully cured) pour of concretewhich will cure/harden to form a building-frame supporting slab, (b) asecond load-reaction structure disposed above the mentioned first suchstructure, anchorable to the base of a column, and including at leastone depending retention element which extends downwardly toward thefirst load-reaction structure so as to be embeddable in the samestill-wet concrete pour, and (c) adjustable, differential,load-reaction-interaction structure which is operatively interposed thefirst and second load-reaction structures, with plural, laterally spacedadjusters which are manipulable from above, selectively, to shift thetwo load-reaction structures relative to one another in both elevationaland tilting senses.

The manner of practicing the invention includes (a) placing a precision,position-adjustable plinth in an intended slab zone, (b) pouringconcrete into that zone so as effectively to engage, in an embeddingfashion, the placed plinth, (c) adjusting, as desired, the position ofthe plinth in three-dimensional space before full curing of the pouredconcrete, and (d) affixing/locking the plinth the “adjusted” positionthereof through curing of the poured concrete.

The various important and useful features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more fully apparent as the description which nowfollows is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified and fragmentary, downwardly looking, isometricrepresentation of a building frame structure which is under constructioneffectively on the upper side of a poured-concrete podium slab. Thebases of the columns (only one of which is fragmentarily shown) in thisframe structure are to be anchored to the illustrated slab throughplinth anchoring structures which are made, and which perform, inaccordance with a preferred and best mode embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged and fragmentary, side/cross-sectional viewillustrating generally the key features of the plinth anchoringstructure of the invention.

FIG. 3 presents an isolated and fragmentary, top plan view of a plinthwhich forms part of one of the plinth anchoring structures pictured inFIG. 2.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show details of two different precision adjustmentmechanisms which are employed in the plinth anchoring structure of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning now to the drawings, and referring first of all to FIG. 1,indicated generally at 10 is the emerging structure of a plural-storybuilding, wherein the bases of columns, such as the base 12 a of acolumn shown fragmentarily at 12, are each, effectively, to be anchoredto upper surface of a poured-concrete slab, such as that shownfragmentarily at 14, through what is referred to herein asprecision-adjustable plinth anchoring structure, or plinth structure,such as the three plinth structures shown generally at 16 in FIG. 1. Inthe particular illustration which is presented in FIG. 1, the buildingframe in construction 10, for illustration purposes herein, isconsidered to be one which is being made in accordance generally withthe teachings of the above-referenced '016 U.S. patent, wherein theinvolved, elongate, upright columns are hollow or tubular in nature, andare generally square in cross section, with each column including anelongate axis, such as axis 12 b shown for column 12 in FIG. 1, which isintended to end up in a precision, gravity-upright condition once theassociated column is appropriately anchored to slab 14. Additionally,and just for the purpose of illustration herein, slab 14 takes the formof what is known as a podium slab which is formed by appropriatelypouring uncured (i.e., not yet fully cured), flowable, wet concrete,referred to herein as a concrete pour, into and within a defined (as byappropriate forms) slab region 18, which region is defined, inter alia,by an upper plane which is represented in FIG. 1 by dash-double-dotlines 18 a. A typical depth for region 18 might be about 12-inches,though it should be understood that this slab depth dimension isentirely a matter of designer and builder choice.

It should be understood that, while concrete is the material which isspecifically referred to herein as a suitable, wet-pourable, curablematerial, the term “concrete” is intended, and should be interpreted, tocover any structurally like, wet-pourable, curable and hardenable,structural flow material

Within slab region 18, plinth structures 16 are disposed each in anappropriately defined slab zone, such as the three slab zones showngenerally at 18 b in FIG. 1.

As will now become more fully apparent with respect to a more detaileddescription of two different embodiments proposed for plinth structures16, precision adjustment is made possible in these structures, in bothelevational and tilt (or angular) senses, so as to provide supportplatforms which essentially reside at the level of plane 18 a to furnishaccurate vertical and tilt-angular dispositioning for the building-framecolumns, such as for column 12. Elevational adjustment, as permitted bystructures 16, is represented very generally by double-ended arrow 20 inFIG. 1, and tilt-angular adjustment is represented by two, generallyorthogonally intersecting, curved, double-headed arrows 22, 24 in FIG.1.

Considering now FIGS. 2 and 3 along with FIG. 1, and still describingplinth structures 16 in a somewhat general sense, each plinth structureincludes upper and lower plates, or plate structures, 26, 28,respectively, which are operatively interconnected herein through four,laterally spaced, screw-adjustable devices, or adjusters, 30 deployed asgenerally indicated in these three figures. Plate 26 is also referredherein as a plinth, as a mount, and as a second load-reaction structure,possessing a central axis 26 a with respect to which adjusters 30 aresubstantially equally angularly distributed. Plate 28 is also referredto herein both as a base, and as a first load-reaction structure. Itpossesses a central axis 28 a which is generally aligned with axis 26 a.

Adjusters 30 are also referred to herein as adjustable, differentialload-reaction-interaction structure. These adjusters operatively engageplate 26 herein through four, quadrature-disposed, outrigger ears, suchas ears 32 seen in FIG. 3, which are suitably joined to the sides ofplate 26 as illustrated for two of these quadrature-related ears in FIG.3. Ears 32 are not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The upper surface of plinth26 is referred to herein as a planar upper plinth surface, and is shownat 26 b in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

Joined to the undersurface of plinth 26 are four downwardly extending(depending), elongate retention elements 34 which, as can probably bestbe seen in FIG. 2, each have a somewhat inverted, T-shapedconfiguration. Very specifically, these depending retention elementsextend toward plate 28 in the region between plates 26, 28. From thepoint of view of the structure of this invention as such is shown inFIG. 3, three small X-marks are presented, and labeled 34, to illustratethe distributed locations of the four depending elements 34.

Returning to adjusters 30, and still speaking in general terms only,these adjusters include base tubes 30 a which are suitably anchored tothe top surface of plate 28. Received within tubes 30 a, and extendingupwardly therefrom to accommodate operative “engagement” of the adjusterwith plate 26 through ears 32, are elongate, threaded shafts 30 b, theupper ends of which are provided with cross-slots 30 c (see FIGS. 3, 4and 5). The upper ends of these shafts are received either freely(version shown in FIG. 4) or threadedly (version shown in FIG. 5) inbores 32 a which are furnished in ears 32. More will be said about thisshortly.

With the components of plinth structure 16 associated with one anotheras shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the upper ends of shafts 30 b, and thusslots 30 c, are fully accessible from above, and in two differentrepresentative manners which will be described shortly, reversibleturning of these shafts about their longitudinal axes, as illustrated bydoubled-headed curved arrow 36 in FIG. 2, causes the “associated” ear 32and side of plate 26 to raise and lower relative to plate 28. Throughappropriate turning, which may include differential turning, of shafts30 b, plate 26 may be raised and lowered uniformly as a whole, assuggested by arrows 38 in FIG. 2, or the plate may be angulated indifferent directions relative to base plate 28, as is suggested by angle(x shown in FIG. 2. It is thus the case that plates 26, 28, in aprecision (in this case screw-adjustable) manner, are moveable relativeto one another in both translational and angular manners so as toestablish an appropriate spatial relationship between them as a focus ofthe practice and contribution of the present invention.

Turning attention now to FIGS. 4 and 5, and beginning with FIG. 4, herethere is illustrated one appropriate and representative manner in whichadjusters 30 operatively interconnect plates 26, 28 through ears 32. Inthis approach, and as was mentioned earlier, the lower ends of shafts 30b are freely received within tubes 30 a with the top of each tube 30 ahaving joined to it an internally threaded device, such as the nut shownat 40 in FIG. 4. The internal threads in nuts 40 mesh appropriately withthe threads in shafts 30 b.

Anchored to each shaft 30 b above the associated nut 40 is an element 42which moves as a unit with the associated shaft 30 b, and which bears onthe underside of an ear 32. The upper end of associated shaft 30 bextends upwardly beyond element 42 to be received freely within a bore32 a in an ear 32, as shown in FIG. 4.

In the arrangement of FIG. 4, turning of each shaft 30 b about its longaxis through engagement with slot 30 c through the upper end of bore 32a will cause shaft 30 b and element 42 to raise or lower relative totube 30 a, thus to change the “related” vertical spacing in the nearbyregions of plates 26, 28. It is, of course, through turning of all ofshafts 30 b utilizing the arrangement of FIG. 4 which provides for awide range of different kinds of differential adjustments which can bemade relatively between plates 28, 30.

FIG. 5 illustrates another interconnection approach employed throughadjusters 30 between plates 26, 28. In this arrangement the lower end ofshafts 30 b extend freely into the hollow interiors of tubes 30 a, withthreads in the shafts engaging complementary threads (see theillustration in FIG. 5) furnished in bores 32 a provided in ears 32.

In this arrangement, and referring to the singular arrangement shown inFIG. 5, turning of shaft 30 b causes, through the threaded engagementwhich exists between this shaft and an ear 32, the associated regions ofplates 26, 28 to move toward or away from one another in a relativesense. Thus, one can readily see how the arrangement pictured in FIG. 5,while specifically different from that shown in FIG. 4, provides thesame sort of precision spatial disposition adjustability which ispermitted in structure 16 between plates 26, 28.

Describing now the practice of this invention, prior to the pouring ofslab 14, at the appropriate slab-zone regions 18 b in overall slabregion 18 b, adjustable plinth structures 16 are put into place, and arepreliminarily stabilized in any appropriate manner. At about this sametime, the volume of space where slab concrete will be poured isappropriately “lined” with conventional rebar elements, such as the tworebar elements shown at 44, 46 in dashed lines in FIG. 1. Veryspecifically, these elongate rebar elements are distributed in such afashion that some of them pass at different angles relative to oneanother through the spaces existing between plates 26, 28 in each of theplinth structures. Elements 44, 46 (only fragmentarily shown) are soillustrated in FIG. 1.

At this point in time, and preferably, plates 26, 28 in each of theplinth structures are initially organized so that their planes ofoccupancy are substantially parallel to one another, with the upperplinth surfaces 26 b, generally speaking, lying substantially in plane18 b which defines the upper boundary of slab region 18.

With these conditions in place, wet, pourable (not yet cured, or“pre-cured”) concrete is appropriately poured into region 18 inaccordance with conventional practice, and this pour of concrete thussubstantially fills region 18, and also substantially fills slab zones18 b in a manner which effectively immerses all but the upper surfaces26 b in the adjustable plinth structures.

Once this pour of liquid concrete has taken place, and utilizing anyconventional tools/instrumentation conventionally employed to checkelevations and levels during building construction, and employing anappropriate tool from above to make adjustments of a precision nature inscrew adjustable devices 30, all of the plinths are adjusted, as needed,both translationally and angularly to place surfaces 26 b as exactly aspossible equally level, and within plane 18 b. The differentialdistribution of adjusters 30 readily permits such adjustments to be madeto take into account any out-of-planeness which might, at this point intime, exist for plinth surfaces 26 b either because of the manner anddisposition with which they were originally placed in region 18, and/orbecause of settling or other positional changes which may take place inthe plinth structures following the pouring of concrete.

For example, in the case of pouring a podium slab, once a pour hasoccurred, some concrete-weight-induced sagging may take place in thepour-form structure which has been created to define the spatiallyelevated slab, and to contain and support the poured concrete. As can bereadily understood from the description of the invention which has beengiven so far, the structure and methodology of the invention uniquelyand effectively “handle” this situation.

Especially to be noted is that the plinth adjustments just abovedescribed are made while the poured concrete is still in a wet andflowable, not yet cured state. With all appropriate plinth adjustmentsmade, nothing further is done until the slab concrete has appropriatelycured and hardened. At this point in time it will be evident that thevarious plinth structures become effectively locked in place within thepoured concrete slab, with depending elements 34 positively anchoringplinths 26 in their correct, adjusted-to dispositions.

It will be evident that either one of the two preferred embodiments ofadjusters 30 illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 readily enables the kinds ofadjustments just described.

With appropriate curing of the poured concrete slab, and with lockingand embedded stabilization now existing for plinth structures 16, thebases of upright columns, such as base 12 a for column 12 seen in FIG.1, are appropriately lowered downwardly, as indicated by arrow 46 inFIG. 1, to come into contact with an underlying plinth surface 26 b,with this lowered column base then having its perimeter edges, forexample, welded to plinth 26. All such columns will be correctlyelevationally and angularly positioned in the emerging building framestructure.

Considering now the methodology of this invention, it can be described,in one way, as a method for providing, in relation to a poured concreteslab, a precision-leveled support for receiving, for anchoring purposes,the base of an elongate, upright building-frame column, including thesteps of (a) placing an adjustable plinth structure in a predeterminedslab zone which opens to and extends beneath the intended upper plane ofa slab region which is to be filled with poured and curable concrete,where the plinth structure includes a base, a plinth which is spacedabove the base possessing a planar upper plinth surface, and at leastone depending element which extends downwardly from the plinth towardthe base, and precision adjustment mechanism operatively interconnectingthe base and the plinth, which mechanism is operable from above toproduce precision translational and angular motion between the plinthand the base, (b) following the pouring of concrete into the slab regionand the slab zone, and before full curing of such poured concrete,operating the adjustment mechanism so as to achieve selected, precision,adjusted leveling of the plinth's upper plinth surface, and (c) thencapturing the plinth's so-adjusted condition (its adjusted-to condition)through trapping the plinth's at least one depending element via lockedengagement of that element with cured concrete.

Another way of characterizing the methodology of this invention is tosay that it includes the steps of (a) placing a column base mount (suchas a plinth structure 16) in a region into which concrete is to bepoured to create a slab for supporting a building frame, (b) afterconcrete has been poured into this region, and before the pouredconcrete cures to hardness, manipulating the mount to adjust itsposition in space to receive the base of a column, and (c), capturing,via concrete curing, the mount in its adjusted-to position.

Still another way of describing the overall methodology proposed by thisinvention is to describe it as including the steps of (a) placing aprecision, position-adjustable plinth in an intended slab zone, (b)pouring concrete into that zone so as effectively to engage the plinth,(c) adjusting, as desired, the position of the plinth inthree-dimensional space before full curing of the poured concrete, and(d) locking the adjusted position of the plinth through curing of thepoured concrete.

It will thus be apparent that by employing and practicing the structureand methodology of this invention, a very powerful and satisfactorysolution is provided for precision placement and anchoring of the basesof upright columns in a building structure which is to sit above and onthe upper surface of a poured concrete slab, such as a podium slab. Byproviding multi-directional and angular adjustability of upwardlydeployed plinths in plinth structures which become locked into properlyadjusted positions following curing of concrete, it is possible toprepare a poured slab for the precision reception of upright columns ina building frame.

Once adjustment has been made, and concrete in the pour has hardened,the column-supporting plinth structures precisely and robustly maintaintheir proper positions in space.

Accordingly, while preferred and best mode embodiments of, and mannersof practicing, the present invention have been illustrated and describedherein, it is appreciated that other variations and modifications may bemade which will come to the minds of those generally skilled in relevantart, and which are considered to come within the scope and spirit of thepresent invention.

1. Precision-adjustable, plinth structure for anchoring the base of anelongate, upright building-frame column to a poured concrete slabcomprising a first load-reaction structure embeddable in a pour of wetand flowable concrete which will cure to form such a slab, a secondload-reaction structure disposed above said first load-reactionstructure, anchorable to the base of a column, and including at leastone depending retention element which extends downwardly toward thefirst load-reaction structure so as to be embeddable in the sameconcrete pour, and adjustable, differential, load-reaction-interactionstructure load-transmissively and operatively interposed said first andsecond load-reaction structures, and offering plural, laterally spacedadjusters which are manipulable from above selectively to shift saidfirst and second load-reaction structures relative to one another inboth elevational and tilting relative motions.
 2. The plinth structureof claim 1, wherein said adjusters take the form of screw-adjustabledevices.
 3. The plinth structure of claim 2, wherein said first andsecond load-reaction structures have substantially aligned central axeswill also become substantially aligned with the long axis of the columnwhose base becomes anchored to said first load-reaction structure, andwherein said adjusters are four in number, and are distributedsubstantially equally angularly about said axes.
 4. The plinth structureof claim 1, wherein said first and second load-reaction structures taketo form of plates, and said adjusters take the form of screw-adjustabledevices.
 5. The plinth structure of claim 1, wherein said adjusters aredesigned for manipulation during curing of such a wet and flowable pourof concrete, thus to enable adjustment relative motions during pourcuring.
 6. A method for providing, in relation to a poured concreteslab, a precision-leveled support for receiving, for anchoring purposes,the base of an elongate, upright, building-frame column, said methodcomprising placing a precision, position-adjustable plinth in anintended slab zone, pouring concrete into that zone so as effectively toengage the placed plinth, adjusting, as desired, the position of theplinth in three-dimensional space before full curing of the pouredconcrete, and locking the adjusted position of the plinth through curingof the poured concrete.
 7. A method for providing, in relation to apoured concrete slab, a precision-leveled support for receiving, foranchoring purposes, the base of an elongate, upright, building-framecolumn, said method comprising placing an adjustable plinth structure ina predetermined slab zone which opens to, and extends beneath, theintended upper plane of a slab region which is to be filled with pouredand curable concrete, where the plinth structure includes a base, aplinth spaced above the base possessing a planar, upper plinth surface,and at least one depending element which extends downwardly from theplinth toward the base, and precision adjustment mechanism operativeinterconnecting the base and the plinth, which mechanism is operablefrom above to produce precision translational and angular motion betweenthe plinth and the base, following the pouring of concrete into the slabregion and the slab zone, and before full curing of such pouredconcrete, operating the adjustment mechanism so as to achieve selected,precision, adjusted leveling of the plinth's upper plinth surface, andthen capturing the plinth's so-adjusted condition through trapping ofthe plinth's at least one depending element via locked engagement ofthat element with cured concrete.
 8. A method for providing, in relationto a poured concrete slab, a precision-leveled support for receiving,for anchoring purposes, the base of an elongate, upright, building-framecolumn, said method comprising placing a column base mount in a regionwhere concrete is to be poured to create a slab for supporting abuilding frame, after concrete has been poured into this region, andbefore the poured concrete cures to hardness, manipulating the mount toadjust its position in space to receive the base of a column, andcapturing, via concrete curing, the mount in its adjusted-to position.